Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon Electrical Problems

Comments

Snaproll1. Now don't forget,last time I checked these suppossed we care/get you in touch w/a service dept.folks AREN'T even G.M. employees!!!!! So with that said what else are they gonna do but drum up business for G.M. service dept..??" HELLO DIS PEGGY HOW I HELP YOU!!??"

I've skimmed this thread, but not read every member of the thread (it's long!) ... I'm facing a similar problem with my 2004 GMC Canyon Z71 crew-cab.

1) since 2005, the effective range of the remote lock FOB reduces, some times to mere inches from the cab. Problems historically start about 35F, and if the temp falls below 10F, the remote FOB doesn't work at all.2) starting this winter, the problem advanced to where it was first apparent at about 50F3) starting last week, the UN-lock would not work at any temp (up to about 60F the recent high temp). Remote LOCK worked OK. Also the doors lock would not engage when putting the vehicle into Drive and pulling away, nor would it UNlock when stopping and putting the vehicle in Park.4) there were several trips to dealers in the last several years where they could never reproduce the problem. last week, i finally got fed up with this, and forced the local GMC dealer to dig into it more when it was 100% that the UN-lock wouldn't work. They replaced the BCM, which did not fix the problem - outside temp was never about 45F. This weekend, the temp rose about 55F and low and behold lock/unlock started working fine. The vehicle stayed in one place that entire day, so it could NOT be related to bumps, or slamming of the door. After nightfall, with the temp in the 40'sF, the problem has returned to the previous condition -- UN-lock does not work, LOCk works OK. (Drive/Park Lock/Unlock also do not work.)

I'm supposed to return to the dealer in the AM to have them work with the factory techs. But i'm already into this for nearly $600 for diagnosis and BCM replacement, and presumably the bill will only go up from here.

Thoughts? This all seems very, very strange. Particularly frustrating to me is that this problem has been brewing since the first winter i owned the truck, at just 4-5 months old, but that I can't _prove_ a repeated string of complaints that might help me get the regional GM people involved. however it seems from here (Edmunds), and Canyon/Colorado Fans and 355 fans forums that there are a LOT of people with similar problems ...

"I'm supposed to return to the dealer in the AM to have them work with the factory techs. But i'm already into this for nearly $600 for diagnosis and BCM replacement, and presumably the bill will only go up from here.

Thoughts?"

Yeah, pretty much, welcome to teh GM service department. I went through the same thing. Replace the BCM, it will cure the problem. Oh it didn't? You want your money back? Well, ahhhh, the BCM was bad anyway. Let's try replacing something else. How about a new battery? That will cure the problem. Oh it didn't? You want your money back again? Well sorry, but the battery probably needed to be replaced anyway. Oh? It was only three years old? Must have been a bad battery that went before it's time. Oh it was a GM battery? Well, ahhhh... Oh how about if next we replace...

Catch the drift?

Remember the First Rule of Feregi acquisition, "Once you have their money, you never give it back..."

My advice, seriously... there is no simple, single fix, just a host of possible causes. I've been following this thread since there were 50 posts. There are many thoughts, some good, some weird that may or may not help, basically since the problems come and go at whim it would seem. "I sacraficed a virgin on the hood and the fob started working", kind of thing. There are far more posts about dealerships replacing BCMs and other expensive parts that didn't solve the problem.

I Honestly believe your best bet is to quietly sell your Colorado or Canyon as soon as you get it running and learn a lesson about buying GM products. I really tried to stay with the truck but after 5 years of reoccuring weird electrical problems and no support from Chevy (other than invites to spend more money at a dealership so they could continue to experiment at my expense), I finally gave up. Best decision I ever made was to get rid of that truck.

The Colorado and Canyons truly are the gift that keeps on giving... to their repair departments.

But I see where this one might be starting down a bad path. FYI, I didn't mention that the battery was replaced less than a year ago, with a better-than OEM spec unit. (and the problem was neither better nor worse after wards). This is only my second GM product in the last 30 years (the other was a trouble-free Venture van). You want a lemon ... try my old Chrysler Pacifica AWD ... that was a horrendous POS!

Actually, aside from this, which has really just been an annoyance until the last month, I've been quite happy with my Canyon. It's given a steady 17-18MPG overall mileage, even when thrashed, towed my popup, carried countless loads of yard waste to the community recycle (and I mean big ones), carried innumerable loads of kids and sports equipment to football, baseball and softball, taken two trips to California towing a trailer, and been nearly trouble free (one fan clutch, one thermostat in almost 120k miles, did both myself -- although the climate control fan has always been a noisy annoyance). I got a great purchase deal on the vehicle in fall 2004, and would consider it an overall very good value over about 7 years. Basically, I just want a legitimate fix for this so I can get back to not worrying about my vehicle

When the truck "dies on turns", are the rpms dropping way off and the truck shakes? If so, this sounds like a throttle body that needs cleaned. Mine was stalling and I took it to a friend and he cleaned the throttle body. It runs much better now (except for the random electrical issues).

I am sorry that this situation is frustrating at the moment, colo04canyon. I see that you're working with your dealership, and that your vehicle is going in today (December 19th). Have you been working with Customer Assistance at all? If you were to email us your Service Request number, we could look into the situation further. Or, if you would like to establish a case with us, please email us the following information: your name/username and contact information (phone and address), the last 8 digits of your VIN and current mileage, the name of your involved dealership and a description of the times you've been in for this specific concern (lock/unlock problems).

Thank you very much for your patience with us as we work to sort through this concern with your vehicle,Sarah GM Customer Service

Before the days of electronic remote entry/start for cars, when you had 'something' purely decorative attached to that chain (metal, stone, etc) - what did you call that?

Or, what do you call that small extra pocket on men's pants (especially jeans or work pants)? Those are fobs. I believe the English word dates back at least to the early days of the North American trains (early 1800's), but my etymology dictionary says: [Probably akin to dialectic Low German 'Fobke', small pocket.]

Yes, that was another fix, cleaning the throddle body. Mine was doing the same thing, "bogging out" and the shop (non-dealer) that I was working with cleaned the throddle body and it was fine after that. This is something that is pretty common on high milage vehicles.

The 'concept' of the Colorado/Canyon is a good one, that's why I put so much effort into keeping the truck. Ming got just shy of 19mpg. I really liked the truck but it ended up being a losing battle. It is one thing do get the throddle body cleaned, or change the brakes, alternator or starter, these are things you normally expect.

It is another thing to have to deal with design defects like a bad engine head or tail lights that may fail at any time, or fuse blocks that burn up, or blower resistors that repeatedly fry or CD players that don't work and then the endless weird electrical problems... windo/fob thing, instrument cluster, turn signals, wipers, the "weird list" is endless. That's why I finally gave up and cut my losses.

Anyone can design a product poorly, Chevy, Toyota, doesn't matter. The real deal though is who supports their customers vs those that look at their misdesigned product as a "gift that keeps on giving" to their service departments.

First of all; almost 100% of the time, BCM's or ECM's are blamed but do not fix the problem. Many ECm's (engine control modules) or BCM's (body control modules), are returned to the repair center and they find nothing wrong with them (learned this at a GM Tech training center).Look at the last few pages of this problem. I can narrow it down to one of 3 things ( or a combination "rare").

1. Your drivers window/lock module is bad (replace it for about $165).2. Clean and grease the connections to the module with silicone grease.3. There is a 12v supply problem to the module from the fuse box.

There have been issues with the connections in the fuse boxes. I believe there may be a service bulletin on this, I'm not sure.

If necessary, have the GM TECH read all this thread, especially the last 10 pages I would guess.

Test the supply voltage to the window/lock module (located in the drivers door below the switches) WHILE THE LOCKS OR WINDOWS ARE ATTEMPTING TO OPERATE. This may take 2 people. One to actuate the buttons while the other one tests with a wiring diagram and VOM.(or voltmeter).

Well. Just got the truck back from GO GMC repair in Golden Colorado. I think they really fixed it. They did replace the BCM (echo skepticism again heard throughout this thread about the efficacy of this), and then found one (or more) broken wires in the wiring harness where it comes through to the driver's door. An initial test showed that the lock/unlock was working 100% correctly, both fro the fob and during park/drive transition. Interestingly, the remote range was better than I think it has ever been since I owned the vehicle -- and the outside temp is about 28F (cold, snowing, after dark). So. Based on this thread, I'll wait a while to see, but initially it seems fixed. Of course, it did set me back $630 (with tax). They had the vehicle for probably 20 business hours.

I guess the word fob is an american thang. lol . In canada we just call it a remote. When you attach other things to your key chain, i dont know what you call them. Attachments,accessories,trinkets,I dunno. When someone has alot of [non-permissible content removed] on their key chain,we dont say "man,you have alot of Fobs on your key chain". We say "Man,you have alot of [non-permissible content removed] on your key chain".lol

Its been a couple weeks now and my locks,window,remote problem hasnt reoccurred.I know some people will say give it time.I guess we will see. It seems like (in this forum) that the most problems have occurred in the 04,05 and 06 canyons and colorados. I have an 07 and havent read too many posts about that year( knock on wood).Other than that temporary locks, window,remote issue i havent had any problems in the 2 years ive had it.Other than my current one right now which is a royal pain in the [non-permissible content removed].The evaporator cannister thing or whatever, that is stuck closed and it takes me 10 minutes to pump gas to fill my gas tank.Still havent had it looked at yet.Did i read somewhere in here that it could be some type of solenoid that has failed? And not the cannister on top of the fkn gas tank that really isnt a DIY job? And to colo04canyon.... I truly hope your problem is fixed. Especially for the $630(omg) that they raped you for. Good luck...

Sorry for the delay...it turned out to be a faulty remote starter unit..polar star3175e replaced and working fine...for now...Electrical seems to be a bad word with these trucks! 2008, SLE Crew 4X4 95000 kms and so far only the usual.. oil,maintence issues, plus a purge valve for fuel tank...still love the truck!! Knock on dashboard! Want to possibly put a plow on it..any suggestions? Looked at a Fisher Homesteader...5000$ installed...was hoping for a little cheaper! Don't want an up-down, no angle type..my driveway only (maybe the neighbours!lol)

the solenoid is part of the assembly from what I was told...po449 is what I was coding...solenoid stuck open, as long as you can stand the fuelling time it won't hurt the truck...just probabley takes longer to fuel than to get where your going! lol

I have never paid much attention to the rpms when the pickup dies. Ive been in traffic and making quick turns. But I will have that looked at and see if I can have one of my many problems fixed. I have decided to fix the serious issues and sell the vehicle. I do not want to dump it off on anyone else, so I will make sure it runs properly first. I had a 1990 Honda Accord that I got 21 years of service out of. I threw a little money at it as it got older. I finally sold it off and bought this Canyon. Boy what a mistake that was!!! I will never buy a GM vehicle again. From the cheap air vents that broke, to the weird electrical issues. I sat in a Chevy Corvette back in 2000 and it had cheap broken air vents just like by Canyon. It's my own fault for not learning a lesson back then.

"I have decided to fix the serious issues and sell the vehicle. I do not want to dump it off on anyone else, so I will make sure it runs properly first."

That's just what I did, I just wish I would have done it sooner. Like I say, I liked the truck and if it had been well designed and reliable I would probably still be driving it today. What would happen is some weird $500 or $1000 dollar electrical problem would occur, I'd swear at myself for not selling it after the last weird electrical problem, then I'd get it fixed and want to get my money out of the $500 or thousand dollar fix, and "hope" that it was the last weird problem... but it never was. After a few months of things being fine, some other weird thing would crop up... The fob/window thing again, in 20 below weather with snow on the way, a week before I could get it in to the (nondealer) mechanic to get it fixed, a plastic bag over the window for a week... I finally got tired of this excitement in my life courtesy of GM.

Unfortunately I think you are making the right choice... sell the truck and cut your loses.

An alternative might be to actually contact one of the "care reps" that prowl the forum looking to send you and your checkbook off to a dealership. After my experiences with their "Jelly of the Month Club" oil change/tire rotation appeasement offers, I would have been way ahead just dumping the truck and cutting my losses.

Well -- two days and so far so good. All lock and unlock functions working correctly and the remote fob working well. The temp is expected to be into the single-digits tonight, so I'll try the range on the remote then, but right now at ~20F, the range is better than I think it's ever been, at any temp, since I bought it. The dealer also seem to have (coincidentally? Intentionally?) fixed an issue that I had with the driver's window rollup that I didn't report. (it used to stutter and rock in the last 1/3 of the rollup, now it's smooth to the top). Still frustrating that I spent $630 in part for a problem that the vehicle has had since purchase.

I was just curious,when you followed bstrouds instructions,when you disconnected the battery, how long did you wait before you hooked the battery back up?I tried disconnecting it,following his instructions and then hooked it back up right away and it didnt work.So the next time i followed his instructions i waited 3 hours b4 hooking it back up and then my window and locks worked.But my remote didnt, untili I drove around the block a couple times and then it worked. Also did your battery happen to die just b4 it happpened like mine did?

Well wouldn't ya know it, more electrical issues. For years my radio display would not dim when I dimmed the instrument cluster. Now the radio dims, but the instrument cluster stays illuminated at the same brightness!!! Also found out one of my fog lamps was burnt out (following a friend returning from hunting trip and he told me one of my lamps was not working). Went outside the next day and lo-and-behold, the other one was burnt out. Two days later my left turn signal bulb was out, along with one of the lights that illuminates the license plate. Oh, I forgot to mention that blower speed "3" doesn't work anymore.

Coincidence? Seems a little fishy for 4 bulbs to burn out all at within a 4-5 day span.

And lemme guess, another referral to the dealer? Don't want to go to a dealer for someone to tell me I need to spend X amount of dollars to "try to fix it".

I wonder if there are any grounds for a class action lawsuit??? The runaround for what IS a major problem/flaw for countless people that ARE having the EXACT SAME PROBLEMS and NOTHING is being done about it.

"Coincidence? Seems a little fishy for 4 bulbs to burn out all at within a 4-5 day span."

I forgot about all the lightbulbs before you mentioned it. My truck seemed to eat them at times. In some cases it was the socket itself. The prongs would take a "set", lose contact and have to be rebent.

Another weird issue was the length of some of the socket wires. One of them, I think it was one of the fog lights or headlights were virtually impossible to get back into the housing because those cheap %$&#@ at Chevy skimped on the wiring length. The socket rotated into the housing but the wiring was so short that I really had to practically "stretch" it.

The wiring was so tight and the sockets so poor, in cold weather one fo the fog lights would go out. I would have to get out of the truck (in the dead of winter) and bang the lens with the palm of my hand, the light would come on, and stay on for the rest of the trip, but be out on the next trip.

As far as the dash/radio lights, there were some early posts (somewhere around the 100-200 post range) with folks complaining of really weird electrical problems with the instrument cluster. As I remember it was lighting issues, the lights staying on or not coming on at all. In most cases the dealers replaced the instrument clusters but it seemed the weird problems continued, (radios or CD players not working etc). Other problems were really weird stuff, like having the windshield wipers go on when the radio was turned on, really whacky stuff.

Anyway, good luck with it. I certainly hope you get it solved or it clears up on its own. Oh, the blower motor is a continual source of problems, the motor and the resistor. I had to replace mine a couple of times. Again, I sure wish you luck, you must be about the last person driving a Colorado or Canyon.

I bought this truck about a year and a half ago. It's a 04 Chevy Colorado 2wd z71 5 cylinder. Since I've owned the truck I've come the the conclusion that it may have been through hurricane Katrina because my bright lights don't work, water was all inside the truck when I got it (4 inches of water while turning, then it went back under the floor board........) there are two wires with harness on them under the steering colum. The original owner had a stero system in it so I'm sure he messed with a lot of the electrical wires. I'm outside now and all I want is for my bright lights to work..... I'm about to drive it offa cliff because of these electrician issues. I've checked fuses,bulbs wires. Nothing I do seems to make a difference . Can someone please give me an idea on what I can do to make my bright lights work! Please I'm about to end my life.......(just kidding lol)

Yes I kno what you mean when I first bought the truck I herd a horn honking outside and sure enough it was mine!! The wipers were on full blast with the radio on full blast.......strange........all of that stuff has for some reason gone away but my brights still don't work. I've never even seen them work from day one. We've got to figure this out because these are our every day vehicles and it's bull s$&t

GREMLINS,GREMLINS,GREMLINS!!!!! Do yourself a favor get rid of it ASAP!!!!! As a FORMER colorado owner trust me the electronics issues are too many to count w/this P.O.S. and if you make enough noise one of the G.M. cust. serv. folks will come slithering out to try to stear you to a "dealer/service dept. in your area that can help."

Look at the posts on this site 100's, and years of all makes and models of colorado/canyons! Recall??!! Recall??!! NOoooo not w/$ to be made by "dealer/service dept. in your area that can help." trust me best thing you can do is "drive it offa cliff."

The previous post is right on target. It is really unfortunate, especially if the truck has been flooded. I had an old Bronco that had been in a flood. One way you can tell (especially if the water was muddy), look for silt in weird places like inside the tail light lenses, anyplace where water could get in and be trapped for a while. Also inspect closely if the interior has been pulled out of the vehicle. It's rare that anyone pulling it to dry it would take time and care to do it right.

I can't imagine a Colordo in a flood. The problems with these things are endless and would only be compounded. Sell the POS as soon as you can and count yourself lucky for cutting your losses before you spend a lot of time and money chasing endless problems that should never have been there in the first place.

jonathon5, give me an email and I can PDF you a diagram of the headlight circuit. Without wiring diagrams, you are just shooting in the dark. It is not a difficult problem to fix as the circuit is fairly simple. I see your email is private. Just email me at dtomlinson052@gmail.com so I can reply with a PDF.